Valedictorian passionate about math, science, life

Published 6:04 pm, Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Tolu Alimi, 17, is the valedictorian of the 2012 senior class at Seven Lakes High School. He plans to attend Stanford University in the fall and major in chemical engineering.

Tolu Alimi, 17, is the valedictorian of the 2012 senior class at Seven Lakes High School. He plans to attend Stanford University in the fall and major in chemical engineering.

Photo: Suzanne Rehak

Valedictorian passionate about math, science, life

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Tolu Alimi is the type of student that parents and teachers dream about.

He stays up late studying, has a positive attitude and works hard to be the best that he can be at all times. That perseverance has paid off for the 17-year-old math and science whiz, who will graduate first in his class at Seven Lakes High School.

Alimi, who has won numerous accolades, will head to northern California to study chemical engineering at Stanford University in the fall. He said aiming to be No. 1 is a difficult mission but not an impossible one to achieve if goals are set.

"I study pretty hard and there are a lot of late nights," said the Seven Lakes valedictorian, who has earned a 4.838 grade-point average. "I am not so much motivated by the grades but the classes that I find interesting such as science and math."

Alimi, who has a brother studying religion at Princeton University in New Jersey, said he has been inspired by his family, teachers and fellow students. He said his AP Biology teacher LeAnn Nicholson has especially impacted his life.

"Tolu has a passion to become a chemical engineer, but more importantly he has a passion to enjoy life," Nicholson said. "He always has a huge smile and provides words of support and encouragement to his peers."

Nicholson, who said she tells students to seek their passion in life, said despite the competitions, distractions and stresses in the world, Alimi approaches each day as a "golden opportunity" to do something great.

"When he walks onto that campus at Stanford this fall, he will bring that same positive outlook while focusing on his relationships with others because he realizes how important those attributes are in defining one's success," she said.

Alimi lived in the Netherlands and in northern California with his parents and brothers Toni, 19 and Tofe, 13, a ninth-grader at Seven Lakes, before moving to Katy. He said he learned the value of hard work from his father Biodun Alimi, a petroleum engineer, and his mother Teju, a stay-at-home mom.

"They helped plan out my course schedule and pushed me to take the hardest classes every step of the way," Alimi said. "I'm so grateful for that."

Alimi, who had more than four high school credits under his belt before entering ninth grade, hit the books during his summers to get a jump on high school courses.

"I took a lot of classes," Alimi said. "I started taking high school classes in seventh grade and I took four classes over the summers since eighth grade."

Alimi is charismatic and well-liked by his classmates, who said they admire his positive outlook.

"He really works hard to get it all done," said fellow senior Alex Cai, 17. "I respect him for asking everyone's opinion in the group when working on a project."

"He is very intelligent and not afraid to give his own opinion," said Shannon Cheng, 18, who is class salutatorian.

Alimi does not lack humility. Though he learned he was first in his class when junior year rankings were announced, the humble teen does not consider himself to be smarter than others.

"There are a lot of people smarter than me," he said. "Even if it is not biology or chemistry or math, they might have better social skills and know how to interact with people better than me."

Being a gifted scholar does not mean he is good at everything. Alimi said he is "pretty awful" in music even though he studied piano for eight years.

"I did not enjoy piano and I complained about it every day," he said. "English is not my favorite subject but I try hard and do the best I can."

No stranger to community service, Alimi devotes time to Houston's Lakewood Church, where he began mentoring peers in 10th grade.

"I consider myself pretty well-off family wise because I come from a stable background," Alimi said. "Meeting other people who are not doing as well changed my perspective and allowed me to see just how much God has blessed me."

He said meeting children with divorced parents or who were struggling in school made him want to reach out and show them they had someone to turn to.

"It is not just me mentoring them," he said. "They teach me to be grateful for what I have and I don't focus on what I don't have."

During his four years at Seven Lakes, Alimi has been involved in track and swimming as well as a member of National Honor's Society, where he volunteers at least 25 hours a year. He is one of 800 students nationally to win the $2,500 National Achievement Scholarship award from the National Merit Scholarship Corp. The award recognizes outstanding black students.

He achieved designation as an AP scholar for excelling on several tests and he received a National Merit commendation. He was also recognized for competing in the American Invitational Mathematics Examination, which denotes exceptional achievement in mathematics.

Before he heads to college, Alimi will work as a mentor with elementary students in Katy ISD with a paid summer position.

Nicholson said Alimi's impact to the world began with the lives of those he touches daily.

"He never makes excuses or complains about life's little injustices, instead he just smiles and makes it happen," she said. "I feel so blessed to have taught Tolu and many other students like him."